Belgium has released the sole suspect charged in the Brussels attacks

Brussels (AFP) - The sole suspect charged over last week's Brussels attacks was released Monday following a lack of evidence linking him to the carnage, Belgian prosecutors said.

Three suspects in the attacks. Belgian Federal Police The lone suspect charged over last week's Brussels attacks was released on Monday because of a lack of evidence linking him to the carnage, Belgian prosecutors said.

"The indications that led to the arrest of Faycal C. were not substantiated by the ongoing inquiry.

"As a result, the subject has been released by the examining magistrate," the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement, without giving further details.

Belgian media had identified the man in a surveillance photo from Brussels Airport as Faycal Cheffou, who claimed to be a freelance journalist.

The man, wearing a white coat and black hat, was caught on CCTV footage with two bombers who attacked the airport last week in attacks that killed 35 people.

Prosecutors identified the man in the photo as Cheffou and charged him with taking part in the activities of a terrorist group and with actual and attempted terrorist murder.

Cheffou was reportedly known to the police for a criminal record that involved drugs and violence, but he had not been previously linked to terrorism, the Belgian daily regional newspaper La Capitale reported. The police apparently suspected Cheffou of recruiting refugees to become jihadists in late 2015.

The newspaper Le Soir said Faycal C was identified by a taxi driver who drove the attackers to the airport. Earlier it had quoted police sources as saying it was highly likely Faycal Cheffou was the third man.

But then on Monday the police posted a new statement saying that police officials were still trying to identify the "man in white," who is thought to have fled the airport before the bombs went off.